Unix Timestamp: 1064966400
Wednesday, October 1. 2003, 12:00:00 AM UTC

In Abuja, two car bombs explode during Nigeria's 50th anniversary celebrations of its Independence from the British Empire, killing 12 and injuring 17. Militant rebel group MEND claims responsibility. //www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11458674 (BBC)

The International Olympic Committee awards the 2016 Summer Olympics to Rio de Janeiro.

Paleontologists announce the discovery of an "Ardipithecus ramidus" fossil skeleton, deeming it the oldest remains of a human ancestor yet found.

Ireland's Taoiseach Brian Cowen rules out a third referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon if the second referendum due on 2 October is again rejected by the Irish people. //www.independent.ie/national-news/cowen-insists-no-thirdtime-lucky-if-treaty-rejected-again-1901139.html ("Irish Independent")

Ireland holds a second referendum on the EU's Lisbon Treaty. The amendment is approved by the Irish electorate,ref name=RTE_20091003_Yes having been rejected in the Lisbon I referendum held in June 2008.

The opposition in Guinea reject a call by the ruling junta to create a unity government. //www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL1213668 (Reuters) //english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2009/10/200910117636509521.html (Al Jazeera)

Ahead of the second Irish referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon, the Vatican issues a warning to Irish voters that the European Union threatens Ireland's identity, traditions and history. //www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ireland/6251741/Vatican-issues-Lisbon-Treaty-warning-to-Irish-voters.html ("The Daily Telegraph")

Russia's supreme court declares the imperial dynasty victims of political repression, marking the official rehabilitation of the house of Romanov. The decision overturns a lower court ruling that classified the killings as plain murder, and exonerates Emperor Nicholas II and his family of the alleged crimes the Bolshevik regime used to justify their killing. //africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnTRE4901WV.html (Reuters)

The National Transportation Safety Board reports that a Metrolink engineer sent a text message 22 seconds before the Chatsworth train collision in Los Angeles, California, that killed 25 people. //cbs2.com/local/Robert.Sanchez.Text.2.830304.html (CBS)

President of Russia Vladimir Putin announces he will run on centrist list in the parliamentary elections in December and that he does not exclude the option of becoming Prime Minister of Russia after the election. //www.softonlinesoft.net/vb/showthread.php?t=765

Incumbent President of Zambia Levy Mwanawasa is in the lead in early results in the Presidential election, according to the Electoral Commission of Zambia.

The 2000 Summer Olympics close in Sydney, Australia.

Pudong International Airport opens in Shanghai, China, taking over all international flights to Hongqiao.

Luke Woodham walks into Pearl High School in Pearl, Mississippi, and opens fire, killing 2 girls, after killing his mother earlier that morning.

Ross Perot reenters the U.S. presidential election.

The rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front invades Rwanda from Uganda, marking the start of the Rwandan Civil War.

U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs the GoldwaterndashNichols Act into law, making official the largest reorganization of the United States Department of Defense since the Air Force was made a separate branch of service in 1947.

The Israeli air force bombs PLO Headquarters near Tunis.

Associated Newspapers announces that ''The Evening News'' will close and merge with the "Evening Standard".

October 1 ndash The main-belt asteroid 2404 Antarctica was discovered by Antonin Mrkos at Klet\', South Bohemian Region, Czech Republic.

Nigeria terminates military rule, and the Nigerian Second Republic is established.

October 6 ndash Pope John Paul II visits the United States.

"Thrilla in Manila": Muhammad Ali defeats Joe Frazier in a boxing match in Manila, Philippines.

Walt Disney World opens in Orlando, Florida

West Coast Airlines Flight 956 crashes with 18 fatal injuries and no survivors south of Wemme, Oregon. This accident marks the first loss of a DC-9.//amelia.db.erau.edu/reports/ntsb/aar/AAR67-AF.pdf Aircraft Accident Report. West Coast Airlines, Inc DC-9 N9101. Near Wemme, Oregon, Adopted: 11 December 1967

Baseball player Roger Maris of the New York Yankees hits his 61st home run in the last game of the season, against the Boston Red Sox, beating the 34-year-old record held by Babe Ruth.

Nigeria becomes independent from United Kingdom, and Nnamdi Azikiwe becomes its first native-born Governor General.

Cameroon declared independence from United Kingdom.

The People's Republic of China is officially proclaimed.

Mensa International is founded in the United Kingdom.

October 15 ndash Operation Backfire: Three A4 rockets are launched near Cuxhaven in order to show Allied forces the rocket with liquid fuel.

WWII: American forces enter liberated Naples.

Disgusted with Neville Chamberlain's conduct at Munich, Duff Cooper resigns his post as First Lord of the Admiralty. With his resignation, formal debate begins in the Parliament of the United Kingdom on the Munich Agreement, but with Chamberlain at the peak of his popularity, there can be little doubt His Majesty's Government will receive a vote of confidence.

Tiberias massacre: Arabs murder 20 Jews.

German troops march into the Sudetenland. The Polish government gives the Czech government an ultimatum stating that Zaolzie region must be handed over within twenty-four hours. The Czechs have little choice but to comply. Polish forces occupy Zaolzie.

A failed assassination attempt against Englebert Dolfuss seriously injures him.

Mount Rushmore is dedicated.

G.I. Gurdjieff opens his Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man at Fontainebleau in France.

Mexican Revolution: Pancho Villa's troops take Torreón after a 3-day battle, when government troops retreat.

The Grand Duchy of Finland becomes the first nation to include the right of women to stand as candidates when it adopts universal suffrage.

Galatasaray SK is founded.

Phi Delta Epsilon, the international medical fraternity, is founded by Aaron Brown and eight of his friends at Cornell University Medical College.

The first modern World Series, pitting the National League\\\'sPittsburgh Pirates against Boston of the American League, begins at Pittsburgh's Exposition Park.

The first modern World Series, pitting the National League's Pittsburgh Pirates against Boston of the American League, begins at Pittsburgh's Exposition Park.

The Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration is founded under the name "K.U.K. Exportakademie".

French troops capture Antananarivo in Madagascar.

The Owl Club of Cape Town, South Africa has its first formal meeting.

The Dalton Gang, attempting to rob 2 banks in Coffeyville, Kansas, is shot by the townspeople only Emmett Dalton, with 23 wounds, survives, to spend 14 years in prison.

The University of Chicago holds its first classes.

Master criminal Adam Worth is captured in Liège, Belgium during an attempted robbery of a money delivery cart.

In California, Stanford University opens its doors.

Weather Bureau (within Department of Agriculture).

Sofia University officially opens, becoming the first university in liberated Bulgaria.

The British Empire takes over Balochistan.

Sydney Boys High School (the first boys' public school) is founded in Sydney, Australia.

The Boys' Brigade (the first uniformed youth organization in existence) is founded in Glasgow, Scotland.

The Orient Express begins operation.

The Boys\' Brigade (the first uniformed youth organization in existence) is founded in Glasgow, Scotland.

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) opens as Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College.

Chulalongkorn starts to rule in Siam.

Battle of the Volturno: Garibaldi defeats the last organized army of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies.

The watch company founded in 1850 in Roxbury, Massachusetts by Aaron Lufkin Dennison relocates to Waltham to become the Waltham Watch Company, pioneer in the American System of Watch Manufacturing.

The University of Sydney (the oldest in Australia) is founded.

Christ College, Tasmania, opens with the hope that it would develop along the lines of an Oxbridge college and provide the basis for university education in Tasmania. By the 21st century it will be the oldest tertiary institution in Australia.

Supporters of Infante Carlos, Count of Molina, are victorious in the Battle of Maella during the First Carlist War.

South African College inaugurated in Cape Town.

Russo-Persian War, 1826-1828: The Russians under Ivan Paskevich storm Yerevan, ending a millennium of Muslim domination in Eastern Armenia.

Opening of the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway in Scotland.

Austrian Netherlands is annexed to the French Republic as the "Belgian departments".

William Brodie is hanged.

Russo-Turkish War, 1787-1792 ndash Battle of Kinburn: Alexander Suvorov, though sustaining a wound, routs the Turks.

Seven Years\' War ndash Battle of Lobositz: Frederick defeats an Austrian army under Marshal Maximilian Ulysses Count Browne.

Treaty of Raalte: William III, Prince of Orange is no longer stadtholder of Overijssel.

At Jamestown, a second supply ship, the "Mary and Margaret", arrives with Christopher Newport, including 70 settlers, bringing the population back up to 120 the passengers include 8 glassmen.

Shāh ‘Abbās I The Great succeeds as Shahenshah of Iran.

Alessandro Farnese succeeds Don John as Spanish Governor-General of the Netherlands.

The Normans conquer Messina in Sicily.

Yusuf ben Tashfin succeeds to the throne of Morocco, following the Almoravid conquest.

Vratislav II becomes duke of Bohemia.

Estonians destroy the castle of Yuryev in Tartu and carry out raids in the Pskov region in Russia.

Most of West Frisia (later known as Holland) is conquered by imperial German armies and given to the Bishop of Utrecht.

Erection of the Speyer Cathedral in Speyer, Germany, begins.

Pope Alexander II succeeds Pope Nicholas II as the 156th pope.

Pope John XIII succeeds Pope Leo VIII as the 133rd pope.

King Eadwig of England dies, and is succeeded by his brother Edgar, who effectively completes the unification of England when Northumbria finally submits to his rule.

Dunstan becomes bishop of Worcester, England and London.

Bruno I, Archbishop of Cologne divides the Duchy of Lorraine with his nephew Frederic.

Michael I Rangabe is declared Byzantine emperor Stauracius retires to a monastery.

Bulgars, under king Krum, destroy the Avars.

A man with a sword makes an attempt on emperor Nicephorus I's life. In the following trial, the assassin claims insanity as his defense.

"Book of Kells" is completed by the Celts.

The Temple of the Jaguar Priest is constructed in Tikal National Park, Guatemala.

Al-Andalus: uprising of the city of Mérida against the Umayyad ruler.ref name=rucquoi1993

China demands the return of territory by Tibet.

Emperor Temmu of Japan dies. Empress Jito ascends the throne.

Emperor Temmu's son, Prince Ōtsu, is falsely accused of treason by Jito and forced to commit suicide along with his wife, Princess Yamanobe.

Maximianus is enthroned as Patriarch of Constantinople.

Pope Celestine I dispatches Palladius to serve as bishop to the Irish.

Pope Liberius dies after a 14-year reign and is succeeded by Damasus I as 37th pope. Romans unhappy with this choice elect the antipopeUrsicinus.