Unix Timestamp: 1013472000
Tuesday, February 12. 2002, 12:00:00 AM UTC

2010 Winter Olympics:

February 28 ndash The 2010 Winter Olympics are held in Vancouver and Whistler, Canada.

European Space Agency's Columbus module is attached to the International Space Station. //www.nytimes.com/2008/02/11/science/space/11cnd-shuttle.html ("The New York Times")

Russia and Ukraine resolve a dispute over Ukraine's natural gas debt which saw Gazprom threatening to cut off supplies. //www.afp.com/english/news/stories/080212191939.2gwyi77k.html (AFP)

United States Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Christopher R. Hill, announces that tentative agreement has been reached over North Korean nuclear disarmament pending review by the signatories. //edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/02/12/nkorea.talks/index.html?section=cnn_latest (CNN)

City officials in San Francisco, California, start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, performing the first known civil marriage of a same-sex couple in the U.S. by marrying a lesbian couple, gay rights activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon. Over 80 couples whisked through quick ceremonies.//story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storycid=519e=2u=/ap/gay_marriage_calif

South Korean scientists announce the world's first successfully cloned human embryo. //www.npr.org/display_pages/features/feature_1672523.html//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3480921.stm

Scientists in South Korea announce the cloning of 30 human embryos.

Riots break out between New South Wales Police and Aboriginal residents of Redfern, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia.

Controversy erupts in Canada over a segment of Conan O'Brien's NBC television talk show, filmed in Quebec City and shown to a studio audience in Toronto, featuring his character Triumph the Insult Dog making ethnic insults against French-Canadians, including telling them to speak English. The Canadian government condemns the comments. The Government of Ontario, which had paid to sponsor the taping of four episodes of the show in Toronto to promote the city, also distances itself from the comments.

Athens gets hit by a major blizzard which blankets the entire city for days, causing widespread havoc.

San Francisco, California, begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in an act of civil disobedience.

The roof of the Transvaal water park in Moscow collapses, killing 25 and injuring more than 100.

South Korea's parliament on Friday approves sending 3,000 troops to Iraq, responding to a call from the United States for military help in restoring stability to Iraq.//www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-SKorea-Iraq.html

A major blizzard hits Athens, stranding thousands of drivers in main avenues of the city and forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights in Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport. //www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/02/13/conan_quebec040213

Virginia House of Delegates give preliminary approval to legislation that would ban the recognition of same-sex civil unions and domestic partnerships. //www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0204/13vagay.html

NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touchdown in the saddle region of 433 Eros becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.

The NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touches down in the saddle region of 433 Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.

Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Tom Landry, Charles M. Schulz, and Oliver die, of unrelated causes.

Across Europe, Kurdish rebels take over embassies and hold hostages after Turkey arrests one of their rebel leaders.

U.S. President Bill Clinton is acquitted in impeachment proceedings in the United States Senate.

In Uzbekistan, an apparent assassination attempt against President Islam Karimov takes place at government headquarters.

Glafcos Clerides defeats incumbent George Vasiliou in the Cypriot presidential election.

Albert Zafy defeats Didier Ratsiraka in the Madagascar presidential election.

Two-year-old James Bulger is abducted, tortured and murdered by two 10-year-old boys, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson. Both are later charged. See Murder of James Bulger.

Represenatatives of NATO and the Warsaw Pact meet in Ottawa for an Open Skies conference. The conference results in agreements about superpower troop levels in Europe and on German reunification.

German reunification: An agreement is reached for a two-stage plan to reunite Germany.

Drexel Burnham Lambert files for bankruptcy protection, Chapter 11.

Anthony M. Kennedy is appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Prime Minister Hissène Habré starts the Battle of N'Djamena in an attempt to overthrow Chad's President Félix Malloum.

Ohio becomes the first U.S. state to post distance in metric on signs (see Metric system in the United States).

Phong Nhi and Phong Nhat massacre.

Tay Vinh massacre: Vietnam War.

African and Malagasy Common Organization (OCAM) (Organization Commune Africaine et Malgache) formed as successor to the Afro-Malagasy Union for Economic Cooperation (Union Africaine et Malgache de Cooperation Economique UAMCE), formerly the African and Malagasy Union (Union Africaine et Malgache UAM)).

Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705 crashes in the Florida Everglades killing all 43 persons aboard.

The U.S.S.R. launches "Venera 1" towards Venus.

U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends the first U.S. advisors to South Vietnam.

Nordic Council inaugurated.

Muhammad Reza Shah marries Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari.

Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg of Austria meets Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden and, under threat of invasion, is forced to yield to German demands for greater Nazi participation in the Austrian government.

February 16 ndash Austrian Civil War

The Export-Import Bank is incorporated.

"Radio Vaticana" first broadcasts.

Heavy hail kills 11 in England.

The first British troops land in Shanghai.

The Irish minister for Justice, Kevin O'Higgins, appoints the Committee on Evil Literature.

The Irish minister for Justice, Kevin O'Higgins, appoints the Committee on Evil Literature.

"Rhapsody in Blue", by George Gershwin, is first performed in New York City at Aeolian Hall.

In Washington, D.C. the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial is put into place.

The Qing Dynasty of China, also called the Manchu Dynasty, comes to an end after 268 years.

In Christchurch, New Zealand, the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament is opened.

February 14 ndash Great Blizzard of 1899: Freezing temperatures and snow extend well south into North America, including southern Florida. It is the latest in a series of disasters to Florida's citrus industry.

The electric car belonging to Henry Lindfield of Brighton runs away on a hill in Purley, London, England, and hits a tree thus he becomes the world's first fatality from an automobile accident on the public highway.ref name=Pocket On This Day

French anarchist Émile Henry set off a bomb in a Parisian cafe, killing one person and wounding twenty.

February 12 The bark the 'Elisabeth Rickmers' of Bremerhaven, is wrecked at Haurvig, Denmark, fortunately, all crew and passengers are saved.

At New York City's Madison Square Garden, the first artificial ice rink in North America opens.

Former foreign minister Emilio Castelar becomes prime minister of the new Spanish Republic.

Women gain the right to vote in Utah Territory.

Michigan State University (the pioneer land-grant college) is established.

Puerto Montt is founded in the Reloncaví Sound, Chile.

Edward Hargraves claims to have found gold in Australia.

The Creek cede the last of their lands in Georgia to the United States government, and migrate west.

Chileproclaims its independence from Spain.

President James Madison vetoes John C. Calhoun's Bonus Bill.

Battle of Chacabuco: The Argentine/Chilean patriotic army defeats the Spanish.

U.S. Congress passes law to split the Mississippi Territory, after Mississippi drafts a constitution, creating the Alabama Territory effective in August.ref name=TN/

A fire destroys the Custom House, London.

Napoleon authorizes the usage of "Mesures usuelles", the basis of the Metric System.

The Virginia Assembly amends an act to describe the punishments for the practice of gouging.ref name=Hening

John Carteret, 2nd Lord Carteret becomes Secretary of State for the Northern Department in Great Britain.

April ndash The Genbun era begins in Japan. The era of Kyōhō Reforms ends.

Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor marries Maria Theresa of Austria, ruler of the Habsburg Empire.

British colonist James Oglethorpe founds Savannah, Georgia.

April ndash Royal Colony of North Carolina Commissioners John Watson, Joshua Grainger, Michael Higgins and James Wimble plan the town of New Carthage (which would eventually become Wilmington, North Carolina on the east side of the Cape Fear River).

March ndash Molasses Act passed by Parliament of Great Britain, which aided in the negative opinions of the British by American Colonists.

The Great Northern War begins with a joint invasion of Swedish territory in Germany and Latvia by Denmark and Poland/Saxony. Sweden has control of the Baltic Sea and holds territory that includes Finland, Estonia, Latvia and parts of northern Germany. To challenge its power, an alliance is formed between Tsar Peter I of Russia, King Frederick IV of Denmark and Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. Sweden's ruler is the militaristic Charles XII, known as the Swedish Meteor.

After claiming the throne of England the previous year, Lady Jane Grey is beheaded for treason alongside her husband.

Pedro de Valdivia founds the city of Valdivia as "Santa María la Blanca de Valdivia" in Chile.

Pedro de Valdivia founds Santiago de Chile.

Axayacatl, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan, invades the territory of the neighboring Aztec city of Tlatelolco. The ruler of Tlatelolco is killed and replaced by a military governor. Tlatelolco loses its independence.

Marsilio Ficino becomes a Catholic priest.

The city walls and defensive moat are built in Celje, Slovenia.

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

The "Almanach cracoviense ad annum 1474" is published.

First complete printed edition of Avicenna's "The Canon of Medicine" (in Latin translation) published in Milan.

Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II defeats the White Sheep Turkmens led by Uzun Hasan at Otlukbeli.

battle of Rouvray (or of the Herrings): English forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army of William de la Pole, 4th Earl of Suffolk at Orléans from attack by the Comte de Clermont and John Stewart.

The Treaty of Stralsund settles border disputes between the duchies of Mecklenburg and Pomerania.

Pope Leo IX succeeds Pope Damasus II as the 152nd pope.